Yankees Notebook: Aaron Boone assesses rule changes at quarter mark of the season
Baseball has typically been a sport that has rejected major alterations.
But sometimes change is for the better.
The 2023 season marked the beginning of a new era within America’s national pastime with a series of rule changes — the pitch clock, shift ban and others — that were meant to speed up the game and provide an overall better product on the field.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone has loved almost all the changes introduced to MLB this season as his club reached the quarter mark of the 162-game season Saturday against the Rays.
“I love the [pitch] clock for the game just first and foremost,” Boone said Saturday. “I think it’s been good for the game, I think it’s been good for the sport. I would have expected maybe a little more of an adjustment phase. I think that adjustment’s been fairly seamless [for us].
“And I felt that way very early in spring training that guys got used to it probably quicker across the board than I would’ve expected.”
Not everyone has fully adjusted, however. There are still some working out the kinks of the clock within the Bronx clubhouse. Wandy Peralta — 1.88 ERA in 17 appearances this season — being one of the players who Boone singled out as having “the most balls called against him and violations.”
With all of the attention the pitch clock — rightfully so as the average game time went from three hours and two minutes in 2022 to two hours and 38 minutes this season — the shift ban has provided a different refreshing look, especially to left-handed batters such as Anthony Rizzo.
The 33-year-old is slashing .301/.387/.500 with eight homers — two of which came in Friday night’s 6-5 win over the Rays — and 20 RBI. His average is up .077 points from his 2022 .224 line. The first baseman has feasted with more of an open right side.
“Rizzo loves [the shift ban],” said Boone. “Every time he gets a hit, I think I got about seven or eight of them where I’ll be like, ‘I don’t know if that’s a hit [with the shift]’, and he’ll look at me when he gets out on base.
“Yea, I think [the shift ban] has been fine. Your still seeing teams being able to do a lot of shading but I think that’s been good too.”
While most of the rule changes have been successful in their intentions and have delighted the Yankees’ skipper, there’s still one aspect that he isn’t fully behind — the new base size. While the enlarged bag combined with the limit of two pick-off attempts has promoted the use of athleticism and base stealing, Boone is not sure if the size of the bag is all that necessary.
“I’m still not sure on the bases,” said Boone. “I think with the new rules it’s encouraged athleticism and running and things like that enough. Not sure if the base size is necessary.”
KEEP THE GLOVE, GIANCARLO
Giancarlo Stanton played five of his 13 games in the outfield this season, a number that will go up once he returns from his hamstring injury, according to Boone. Stanton will remain an option in the outfield despite the sluggers’ lower-body injury history
“I thought he looked really good moving around in the outfield yesterday,” Boone said. “He did a lot of defensive work out there…I would like to [continue playing him in the outfield]. I keep maintaining that when he’s able to do that, I think it’s better for him.”
Stanton is slashing .269/.296/.558 with four homers and 11 RBI. The 33-year-old last played on April 15 against the Twins.
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